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central processing unit (CPU)
a component of a computer system, which contains the circuitry necessary to fetch, decode, and execute program instructions from and to main memory (RAM)
arithmetic logic unit (ALU)
a part of the CPU that does all the arithmetic and logical calculations
registers
small, very fast circuits that store internediate values from calculations or instructions inside the CPU.
buses
connecting wires that connect the CPU to other devices, carrying instructions to / from components
basic input output system (BIOS)
a small program that allows the computer to know what to do to find the operating system to ‘boot’ the computer after power is restored
cache
a small, high-speed memory inside the CPU used to hold fequently used data, so that the CPU needs to access the much slower RAM less frequently
the fetch-execute cycle (the machine cycle)
the basic operation of a computer
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